In my church, when a candidate is baptized, the pastor has the candidate remain in the water after immersion for further instructions. He places a pinch of salt on the candidate’s lips and encourages the new member to become salt in the world to create
What do you expect from God? The answer to that question depends on how you see God.
Luke meticulously lays the foundation that Jesus is God’s promised Messiah, pointing to an angelic revelation to both Mary and Zechariah, the heavenly hosts revealing to lowly shepherds that this “promised one” is born in a humble animal shed in Bethlehem, the startling affirmation of
Our text for today’s lesson focuses on what are called the Beatitudes of Jesus. Each beatitude begins with the translation of the Greek word makarioi for blessed. It has the meaning of “happiness” and describes what Jesus intends for those who become disciples of his
This is the year I’m going to get organized!
Of course, that’s what I said last year, too. It’s an annual ritual that’s a lot like Charlie Brown continually lining up to kick that football.
Today is the morning after President Obama’s final State of the Union Address. And the news – particularly on the Internet — is flooded with reaction, analysis, interpretation, criticism and praise. Nothing new there.
Written roughly 70 years after the crucifixion, John approaches the story of Jesus unlike Matthew, Mark or Luke. John does not deal with the genealogy, birth, baptism, temptation or ascension of Jesus. John does not report Jesus’ parables, but carefully follows a theme of Jesus’
Psalm 8 is one of the psalms characterized as Songs of Praise to the Creator. Even though the entire book of Psalms is often described as praise to God, this psalm speaks eloquently to the question, “What is Man?” or, as John Stott labels it,
The issue of human trafficking occasionally makes national headlines, such as during Super Bowl weekend. But for the millions of people caught in it, trafficking is a daily
Although sometimes portrayed as a problem found in other nations, human trafficking also occurs in large numbers in the United States. The FBI includes St. Louis as one of the top 20 trafficking cities in the U.S., and governmental groups have also identified Kansas City